Aerogarden VS Soil and CFLS

This is my first attempt at a journal I have been lurking for a while, I have tried some of what I learned, I grew one male sucessfully using soil and cfls and have killed 7 seedlings in a homemade bubler set up ( ph problems)

Now, I have an aerogarden, and I am alos attempting another soil and cfl grow, I am doing them at the same time, both very basic so i can decide which type of grow works for me, I am a complete newbie so I will have more questions than answers but feel free to chime in

The basics:

10 seeds all bag seed place them in a cofee cup with water, waited 24 hours 6 had sunk to the bottom ( this is the only method I have had success with) those six are the seeds that were planted

3 seeds in soil in a closet 2 26w daylight cfls 1 42w warm cfl and 2 26 watt warm cfls

3 seeds in the aero garden, 1/4 strenght aero starter nutes 1 20 gal dual outlet airpump plus 8 inch airstone, I have a reflective emergency blanket draped over the unit to keep the light contained.

All seeds were planted on the same day so I can have a direct comparison, I am bad with dates but I will try and keep it clear for this journal

SO far I have 1 sprout in the soil set up and 1 sprout in the aerogarden also, they both were planted on the same day and both sprouted on the same day, I will post pics of both set ups in a few

Wish me luck

Sorry the pics sux will be getting a better camera soon

Today marks day 7 from planting the seeds, I have a 2nd sprout in the aerogarden but no new sprouts in soil.

I am thinking the seeds in the soil must just be duds so I am going to transplant the one that did come up in the soil to the aerogarden so i will have 3 seedlings in the aero and move them under my home made cfl fixture and see what I can get, I have read all the pros and cons on the aero but if I can just get one female from these 3 I plan to use the aero for clones and make another bubler setr up to keep mothers

okthe transplant is complete I now have 3 seedlings in the aerogarden, I ditched the stock aero light and i am using 6 cfls 2 42w warm 2 26w warm and 2 26w cool i am going to give the transplant about 48 hours to adjust as long as I see no signs of trouble the plan is to change the water to eliminate any soil that I may have missed and then switch to 12/12 and see if I can get a female so this will be only about 10 days with 24 hour lighting and then 12/12,

No luck trying to germinate with the paper towel method?
Oh well good luck with your grow, keep the pics and posts comin.


Check out my grow...

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/51756-lowryder-2-cfl-s-my.html

hi there bigd, i use the same method for germing as you and have had 100% success so far. i find it the easiest way, pop the seeds in the distilled water, place them in a warm dark place and check every few hours. most of them will sink in a few hours ( ones that are still floating gently tap them with your finger and more will sink ), then i wait and keep checking as it doesnt take them long to start sprouting, usually under 48 hours if the temp is right. if my ballast is on i place them next to it so they stay warm.

hustla

I have tried the paper towel method it didnt work for me, the cup of water has always worked, no big updates the transplant seems to be ok it is very perjy this morning and looks like I will have a new set of leaves on it by the end of the day

it is bigger than the other 2 that started in the AG i think its because it was under my cfls

Updated pics of the 2 that sprouted the same day the larger of the 2 startedits life in soilwith 5 cfls on it I think thats why its a little bigger all 3 seem to be doing well so far any comments

Ok the seedlings all seem happy in the AG with 6 cfls over them I am containing the the light pretty good so far and I want to try and determine sex early so i am starting 12/12 today lights out at 9pm and on at 9 am all the seedlings have about 7 days out of ground with 24/7 lighting wish me luck

Dammit!!!! trying to rearrangethe lights and one of the seedlings was smashed under a big 42w cfl didnt notice it for like 30 seconds it got burned not sure if its going to make it , and it was the largest of the 3 !!!! its still alive after 12 hours of darkness and my other 2 are looking ok I will post pics in a few

ok the first pic is of the one I burned will it make it?? the other 2 sprouts look ok one looks a little heat stressed those 42w cfl put off a bit of heat,

how do they look?? and since I am growing 3 in the aero what 3 pod positions would be the best to use light isnt an issue since I am using my own cfls I am more concearned with spacing for growth????

well I couldnt save the one sprout so I started 2 more seeds in the AG after soaking them in water as before for 24 hours, so this will add to the experiment since these seeds will be on 12/12 from the start I have seen other grows using this tatics lets see if it works in the AG

Anybody that is reading I have a couple of questions please chime in, I have 2 sprouts remaining they both started in the AG they sprouted about 36 hours apart but the growth is considerably different one has more up and out growth while the other has alot more roots any ideas???

I posted this in the hydro section but got no reply should I be concearned with the difference in root growth between these 2

bigd921 said:

Anybody that is reading I have a couple of questions please chime in, I have 2 sprouts remaining they both started in the AG they sprouted about 36 hours apart but the growth is considerably different one has more up and out growth while the other has alot more roots any ideas???

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Your girls may look really different at this point, but what you care about is what they look like at harvest!


It's normal for the sprouts to look a bit different at this point - relax and enjoy the grow.

thanks for the reply I think we all geta little nervous when we see something strange

bigd921 said:

I posted this in the hydro section but got no reply should I be concearned with the difference in root growth between these 2

Click to expand...

Your kids should be ok - but remember that in addition to the long white splindly roots that you see, there are also microscopic root hairs that you can't see, and these hairs can be very easily damaged. Root hairs are also responsible for the majority of water and nute absorption.

This should probably be the last time that you yank your kids!

bigd921 said:

thanks for the reply I think we all geta little nervous when we see something strange

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I know what you mean - I can't tell you how freaked I was when one seedling was a quarter inch taller than the others - I was afraid I was growing a tree!

Lights will be on in about 2 hours I will post updated pics then they seem to be doing ok, I changed the water yesterday I also filled in the top of the pods with some gravel so I can keep light out, those little paper covers were more of a pain than anything and so far neither of the other 2 seeds i put in have sprouted